THE BEAUTY OF PURPLE SWEET POTATOES

Purple sweet potatoes! Sweet!

The spuds are more than just pretty to look at, they can make you prettier too! And they taste divine. A triple bliss!

That’s because they are packed with anthocyanins, a powerful antioxidant that can help fight aging, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and other nasty ailments.

Their gorgeous color lends itself to coloring other foods as well, replacing synthetic and insect-based dyes (which no one really wants to eat anyway).

Stephen Talcott, a food chemist at Texas A&M University, leads the research into extracting the pigments from purple sweet potatoes to dye foods. These pigments have an intense and wide range of color -- from raspberry red to grape.

We found some beautiful purple sweet potato recipes that taste as fabulous as they look.

The Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Hazelnut Butter, created by Julia della Croce, is a savory floral genius mouth-party. Use your best Parmigiano-Reggiano for this one.

SWEET POTATO GNOCCHI WITH HAZELNUT BUTTER

Ingredients:

For purple sweet potato gnocchi dough:

• 3/4 pound purple-fleshed sweet potato

• 1/4 cup all-purpose unbleached flour, plus additional for the work surface

• Zest of one navel orange

• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
   

For orange sweet potato dough:

• 1/2 pound orange-fleshed sweet potato, such as Covingtons

• 1/2 cup all-purpose unbleached flour, plus additional for the work surface

• Zest of one navel orange

• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
   

For cooking:

• kosher salt
   

For serving:

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

• 1/4 cup lightly toasted hazelnuts, skins rubbed off, chopped finely

• 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Place sweet potatoes on a rack positioned over a baking pan and roast until collapsed in appearance and soft inside.
    

2. While potatoes cook, set up work space with ingredients and flour on hand, line a baking sheet with a clean kitchen towel.
    

3. Allow potatoes to cool enough to handle, but they need to be warm to make dough. Scoop out the pulp of the purple potatoes with a spoon, discard the skin. Peel off the skin of the orange potatoes with a paring knife.
    

4. Either pass the pulp through a ricer onto a floured work surface or mash it finely with a potato masher or fork.
    

5. Scatter orange zest, nutmeg, and sea salt over the potatoes. Sprinkle with flour and begin to work in the ingredients. Keep adding flour until the dough is smooth and does not stick to hands. Scrape the work surface frequently to prevent losing dough.
    

6. Once dough is finished, cut in half and cover any remainder with a bowl to prevent it from drying out.
    

7. Form dough into ropes ¾ inch thick and at desired length for rolling ease.
    

8. Cut the rope into cylinders as wide as they are thick. Use a butter passle to dip each piece’s cut ends in flour to prevent sticking.
    

9. Roll against the paddle or the tines of a fork while pushing with your thumb to create a hollow concave dumpling. Place onto prepared towel lined baking sheet and repeat until desired amount.
    

10. Fill a pot with 5 quarts water, bring to a boil and add 2 tablespoons kosher salt. Spread butter on a shallow serving platter.
     

11. Lift the towel with two corners in the grip of each hand and position over boiling water. Release gnocchi into water and cook over high heat until they float to the hot, let them remain at the top for no more than one minute before retrieving them with a strainer.
     

12. Transfer to a warm buttered serving platter. Shake the dish to toss and coat with butter. Scatter with hazelnuts and grated cheese and serve.

A rainbow of colors on your plate delivers a rainbow of antioxidant deliciousness to your body, with this Black Rice, Sweet Potato and Edamame medley from Lettuce Be Healthy. Double-Yum!

BLACK RICE WITH SWEET POTATOES AND EDAMAME

Ingredients:

• 1 cup black rice

• 1.5 cups water

• 4 sweet potato (yams, purple yams, or yellow sweet potato)

• 2 green onion stalks

• 2 tablespoon unrefined organic sesame oil

• 2.5 tablespoon tamari (gluten-free soy sauce)

• sea salt & pepper to taste

• optional: for extra protein you can add 2 tablespoon hemp seeds
   

Directions:
 

1. Bring rice, water and a pinch of salt to a quick boil, cover and lower heat to a simmer for 20-30 minutes.
    

2. In the meantime, steam or boil sweet potatoes.
    

3. Whisk together sesame oil, tamari, and onions.
    

4. Turn off heat and let rice cool, then add sweet potatoes, edame.
    

5. Add sesame oil and tamari mixture to black rice.
    

6. Add salt and pepper to taste.
    

7. Toss gently and serve.
    

Purple brillance: Cacao Roasted Purple Sweet Potato. This recipe, by Michelle Gammelgaard of Eat Move Balance blog couldn’t be simpler, more delicious, or more beautiful. It’s a total must-try.

CACAO ROASTED PURPLE SWEET POTATO

Ingredients:

• 1 purple sweet potato, cut into 1 square inch cubes.

• Coconut oil, melted.

• ~1 T. cacao powder.
   

Directions:
 

1. Lightly coat the sweet potato cubes with coconut oil.
    

2. Sprinkle cacao powder over the top and toss to evenly distribute.
    

3. Roast at 375 for 30 minutes, tossing once halfway through.

These Green Tea Rolls with Purple Sweet Potato Filling from FooDivaKitchen are incredibly soulful and satisfying from head to toe. We just stared and stared at their magnificence until we couldn’t stand waiting any longer and ate them way way way too fast. Time for another batch!

GREEN TEA ROLLS WITH PURPLE SWEET POTATO FILLING

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 1 teaspoon dry, instant yeast.

• 1 cup warm milk.

• 1/2 cup white sugar.

• 1/3 cup margarine (or butter), melted and cooled.

• 1 teaspoon salt.

• 2 large eggs, room temperature.

• 4 1/2 cups bread flour.

• 3-4 tablespoons matcha powder.
   

Purple Sweet Potato Filling
 

• 400g sweet potatoes, boiled and mashed.

• 1/3 cup butter, softened.

• 1 cup brown sugar.

Directions:
 

1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl. Mix in the sugar, margarine, salt, and eggs. Add flour and matcha powder, and mix well. Knead dough into a large ball for about 5 minutes. Put in a bowl, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
    

2. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
    

3. Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle.
    

4. Mash the sweet potatoes together with ⅓ cup butter and 1 cup brown sugar.
    

5. Spread dough with ⅓ cup butter and sprinkle evenly with brown sugar. Add the mashed, cooled, purple sweet potatoes one spoonful at a time on top of the sugar. Flatten layer evenly with a spatula.
    

6. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls (cut side up) on a lightly greased rectangular baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400F.
    

7. Bake rolls until matcha layer turns slightly brown, about 15 minutes. Leave to cool on a rack for 15 minutes before serving.

Kuih keria is a doughnut made with sweet potatoes, found in Maylasia, Singapore, and Indonesia. It is often tossed in sugar syrup (which crystallizes into a glaze) and eaten at any time during the day—in the morning during breakfast or late in the afternoon with tea. These, from Sea Salt with Food and Notabilia, made with purple sweet potatoes are special little jewels

SWEET POTATO DOUGHNUTS (KUIH KERIA)

Ingredients:

• 4 (About 600g)Purple Color Sweet Potatoes, scrubbed.

• 100 g All-Purpose Flour.

• 30 g Tapioca Flour.

• A Pinch of Sea Salt.
   

Crystallized Sugar:
 

• 100 g Granulated Sugar.

• 3 Tbsp Water.

• Oil for deep-frying.

• Extra All-Purpose Flour for dusting.

Directions:

1. Boil the sweet potatoes until soft and cool completely. Mash and mix with all the flours and salt. Divide the dough into 12 portions. Shape into doughnut rings and dust with some flour.
    

2. Deep fry the doughnuts over medium heat until golden brown. Drain the doughnuts and set aside.
    

3. Boil the sugar and water until a thick syrup consistency are obtained. Toss in the fried doughnuts into the sugar syrup until well coated. The sugar will crystallize once cooled.

Read more about Powerful Purple all this week on BeautifulNow, including  including Purple Blossoming Paradises, Beautiful Purple Crystal Power, Ultra Beautiful Ultra Violet Musings, and Ultra Violet Birds! and Astonishing Purple Creatures. And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Wellness, Impact, Nature/Science, Food, Arts/Design, and Travel, Daily Fix posts.

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PHOTO CREDITS

1. Courtesy of Lettuce Be Healthy. Purple Sweet Potato.

2. by Earth100. Purple Sweet Potato Flower.

3. Courtesy of Mary’s Veggie Garden. Purple Sweet Potatoes.

4. Courtesy of Japan Times. Purple Sweet Potatoes.

5. Courtesy of Julia della Croce. Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Hazelnut Butter.

6. Courtesy of Bakery and Snacks. Purple Sweet Potato.

7. Courtesy of Lettuce be Healthy. Black Rice with Sweet Potatoes and Edamame.

8. Courtesy of Eat Move Balance. Purple Sweet Potato.

9. Courtesy of Eat Move Balance. Cacao Roasted Purple Sweet Potato.

10. Courtesy of FooDivaKitchen. Green Tea Rolls with Purple Sweet Potato Filling.

11. Courtesy of Sea Salt with Food. Purple Sweet Potato Doughnuts.

12. Courtesy of Notabilia. Sweet Potato Donuts.

13. Courtesy of Simply Being Mommy. Purple Sweet Potato.